50 Shades sparks interest in Napoleon's sweet elixir

A passing mention of Napoleon’s favourite sweet wine – Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance – in E L James’ novel 50 Shades Darker has sparked unprecedented interest in the South African sweet wine. The 2004 vintage appears in the second novel of the 50 Shades erotic trilogy at a masked ball attended by protagonists, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

The elixir is enjoyed with the third course at the event, paired with sugared-crusted walnut chiffon candied figs and maple ice cream. According to The Telegraph, restaurants in the US have begun staging Fifty Shades evenings with replica menus. The sweet wine’s cameo has also led to daily requests to try the 2004 vintage at the estate in the Constantia Valley near Cape Town.

"We're asked every day by people coming into our tasting room about the wine appearing in Fifty Shades Darker," managing director Hans Astrom told The Telegraph, adding, "We were surprised to discover that Vin de Constance was featured in the book, but as a result many new people are discovering one of the great wines of the world,” he added.

The Constantia valley is the oldest vineyard region in the Cape with vines first planted in 1685. Napoleon is said to have drunk a bottle of Vin de Constance a day while in exile on the island of St. Helena, and every day in the week leading up to his death. French poet Baudelaire claimed that only the lips of his lover surpassed the “heavenly sweetness” of South Africa's “honey-coloured” Constantia wine.

And in 1811, the golden elixir was prescribed for Jane Austen's heroine Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility for its "healing powers on a disappointed heart.” Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. of Le Gavroche has even written a cookbook devoted to the wine. "Vin de Constance’s romantic qualities were recognised by Jane Austen, eulogised by Baudelaire and have now been taken to a new level by E L James,” co-owner of the estate, Charles Harman told the DT.

Production of Vin de Constance ceased at the end of the 19^th century after a Phylloxera epidemic swept through the Contantia Valley. The sweet wine was revived 30 years ago when the Vin de Constance vineyard was redeveloped. Up to 30,000 bottles of Vin de Constance are produced per year, depending on yields. The wine is now selling as fast as the estate can produce it, at around £35 a bottle in the UK. The 50 Shades trilogy has sold 65 million copies worldwide.

Lutyens Wine Bar

With the carafe set to surge in popularity this year, in keeping with the casual dining and sharing plates trends currently sweeping the capital, I ventured out with my wine-obsessed flatmate one frosty night late last year to try a selection of wines by the glass at Lutyens’ newly relaunched wine bar. Owned by wine loving restaurateur and soft furnishings expert Sir Terence Conran, Lutyens is housed in the former Reuters building on Fleet Street, next to a church built by Sir Christopher Wren a tuppence’s throw from his magnificent St Paul’s Cathedral.

The often stuffy sphere of wine is being forced to keep up with our ever-changing, increasingly impatient times. Ordering a 75cl bottle of wine in a restaurant specialising in small plates seems old fashioned – anachronistic even. Londoners now expect their wine choices to be as varied and flexible as their food options. Enter Lutyens… Boasting over 40 wines by the glass – impressive even by London standards – each wine comes in five different measures: a 75ml or 125ml glass, a 250ml carafe, half bottle or bottle, encouraging experimentation and variety rather than having to commit to a whole bottle.

Ordered by grape variety and split into two key categories: “Young & Exciting” and “Fine & Rare”, the former gives charming and immaculately turned out French sommelier Romain Audrerie the opportunity to showcase expressive, fruit forward, young wines from emerging winemakers and up-and-coming regions that might not get a look-in on a conventional list. The latter meanwhile, is all about the great estates, and the chance to try high-end wines, from Chassagne-Montrachet to Barolo, without having to splash out on a bank-breaking bottle. Audrerie, formerly of the Hotel du Vin group, the Savoy Grill and Brasserie Roux, also offers thematic wine flights for curious imbibers, including one showcasing Old World icons and another rare European grape varieties, along with tutored tastings from 5.30-6.30pm daily.

But man cannot live on wine alone. Playing an important supporting role is a selection of dishes from young Swedish head chef, Henrik Ritzen, who has a penchant for smoking and pickling. Sharing menu space are the likes of charcuterie and cheese platters, oysters, tartines, and small plates such as venison carpaccio, steak tartare, grilled squid and cauliflower soup. Settling into a chocolate brown banquette, I order a glass of 2011 Louro Do Bolo Godello from Valdeorras rising star, Rafael Palacios, brother of Priorat pioneer Alvaro Palacios. Imported into the UK via Spanish wine trumpet blowers Indigo Wines, the subtly oaked wine was delightful in both flavour and texture, with notes of apple and peach wrapped around a mineral core given further complexity by the 70-year-old Godello vines from which it was made.

Romain Audrerie

Our second white, suggested by Audrerie, was a 2010 Pegasus Bay Riesling from New Zealand’s Waipara region in north Canterbury; a heady cocktail of petrol, squeezed lime, pineapple, lemon balm and herbal hints that hid the 14.5% alcohol deviously, and paired well with a Stichelton, pear and walnut salad. 

Moving on to the meat of the matter, we devoured a charcuterie sharing board loaded with earthy venison and pistachio terrine, creamy duck rillettes, salty ham hock and saucisson, washed down with a glass of 2010 Graci Nerello Mascalese from Etna, bright with notes of sour cherry and peonies. For the main event – a rich, comforting dish of crab gnocchi served in an orange Le Creuset dish, Audrerie served us an off-the-menu modern style Barolo redolent with cherries, garriguey herbs and black truffle.

Keeping us sweet, our feast ended with an indulgent spiced apple tart with caramel ice cream, the warm, textured tart contrasting pleasingly with the sweet, cold caramel. Our final wine, 2007 Bentomiz Moscatel de Alejandria from Malaga, charmed with notes of Turkish delight, nectarine and white flowers, offering a sweet, floral and refreshing mouthful. For the urban wine lover, Lutyens’ shiny new wine bar is a must, offering simple, flavour-rich food, enthusiastic and informative service, and an ever-changing by-the-glass selection. Be sure to rock up early though to secure a table, as it’s forever full. 

Pommery Champagne bar to open in London

The capital is set to get a new Champagne bar boasting London’s largest collection of Pommery. Named after French writer and philosopher Voltaire, who spent three years in exile in London on the order of King Louis XV after insulting a French nobleman, the bar is housed in a grade II listed building in Blackfriars that once served as a bank.

Developed by interior designer Sue Wheldon, who has previously worked with Champneys and the Kempinski hotel group, the bank’s old stone vaults have been converted into a bar dubbed, The Vaults at Voltaire featuring private alcoves decorated in silks and animal prints, each boasting a private waiter.

Opening on Valentine’s Day, Voltaire also has an outdoor cigar terrace leading off from the Champagne bar, featuring silken awnings and outdoor chandeliers. The bar’s Pommery selection ranges from half bottles to a nine-litre Salmanazar and top blend Cuvée Louise, named after Alexandrine Louise Pommery, who took over the Champagne house in 1858 after the death of her husband.

Voltaire will also sell the Pommery POP range, including the famous Union Jack bottle and a bespoke limited edition Voltaire design sold exclusively at the bar. Wine and the City has been promised a sneak preview of the bottle as soon as an image is available. The entire collection will be displayed in a “Pommery Library”, which will form the focal point of the bar.

Voltaire will also offer a Pommery-based cocktail list, which will include The Volt-X – a sharing cocktail for ten. The bar has also partnered with skincare range Temple Spa to launch a quintet of cocktails made with herbs and fruits found in the Temple Spa range, including the “comforting” Repose and the “vivifying” All Talk. 

2013 food and drink trends

Wine and the City looks into its crystal ball to bring you 13 food and drink trends set to tickle your tastebuds in 2013.

1: Ramen

Already big in New York, ramen will continue its charge, building on the momentum provided by Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu and Ittenbari in Soho and Shoryu Ramen at the Japan Centre on Regent Street, as Londoners devour oodles of noodles in 2013.

2: Korean food

Korean cuisine will blow up in 2013 the way Peruvian did in 2012, capitalising on the hype of Psy's Gangnam Style hit, with the roll out of the fresh food focused Bibigo chain. By the end of the year, Londoners will know their bibimbap from their bulgogi.

3: Doughnuts

Homer Simpson’s favourite snack will be the latest sweet treat to get the gourmet treatment, finally knocking the cupcake off its perch. Top chefs like Yottam Ottolenghi and Fergus Henderson have been fuelling sweet-toothed Londoners with churros and a salted caramel version respectively, while Pizza East sells hot cinnamon rings and the Harwood Arms a lemon curd version. Late night revellers will be able to get their sugar fix at Soho Houses's Electric Donuts, offering the likes of bergamot orange and maple bourbon.

4: Chicken

Chicken will be the meat of 2013 – following on from the trend that started last autumn at places like Tramshed in Shoreditch, Chicken Shop in Kentish Town and Wishbone in Brixton, more chicken focused restaurants will emerge, will all styles, from fried to rotisserie getting Londoners clucking with delight. Move over Nandos…

5: A tipping point for beef

Burger and steak restaurants will reach a tipping point. With MASH and STK opening late last year, and Eva Longoria's female friendly SHe steakhouse due to hit our shores soon, Londoners are likely to lose enthusiasm for this meat heavy approach peddled by a plethora of identikit restaurants. It will become a survival of the fittest scenario, with burger joints like the MeatLiquor chain likely to thrive, while others fade into obscurity as we tire of beef encounters. 

6: Pizza

Pizza will become the next gourmet junk food of choice, with more "by the slice" restaurants emerging. 

7: Tea

For 2013, tea will be the new coffee, and will be taken increasingly seriously, with more tea bars emerging, selling vintage and single tree teas. The Rare Tea Lady will be much in demand for events and tastings. HKK (the latest in the Hakkasan group) has already started the tea trolley trend rolling. 

8: Vintage cocktails

Veteran Italian bartender Salvatore Calabrese kicked off a vintage cocktail trend late last year when he broke the record for the world's most expensive cocktail by using, among other things, Cognac from 1788. The Nightjar in Shoreditch quickly followed suit with a value-led approach, launching a vintage spirits list, including 1863 Rye and El Chico rum from the '30s, at deliberately affordable prices. Expect more rare vintage spirits lists to pop up at trendy bars across town, giving a new meaning to Prohibition cocktails. 

9: "No choice" restaurants

“No choice” will become the restaurants of choice as an increasingly dizzying array of choice in all elements of our daily lives leads us to eateries with refreshingly little on the menu. Burger & Lobster and Tramshed spin-offs will no doubt pop up.

10: Aperitivo hour

Inspired by the Milanese tradition, the aperitivo hour will become mainstream in 2013, with Italian restaurants offering free, freshly prepared small plates of antipasti, cured meats, cheeses, crostini and pizzette to those who buy a cocktail at the bar between 6-8pm. Theo Randall, Apero, Aperitivo at Banca, Il Tempo and Market Quarter are currently spearheading the aperitivo hour trend, with the Negroni and Aperol Spirtz the bitters of choice. 

11: The carafe

The carafe will become the wine measure of choice in 2013 – expanding from hip London wine bars and small plates restaurants to more mainstream venues. Smaller than a bottle but larger than a glass, the carafe is ideally suited to after work drinking with friends, when one glass isn't enough but three is too many. By-the-glass offerings will also become more interesting and plentiful in 2013, championed by the likes of Sir Terence Conran's Lutyens Bar & Bistro on Fleet Street. 

12: Affordable glamour

More "affordable glamour" restaurants like Bob Bob Ricard and Brasserie Zedel will emerge that combine beautiful decor and delicious, refined food with affordable prices. They will be characterised by their friendly service and all-day dining. 

13: The death of the main course

And finally… I see no end to the casual dining/no reservations trend just yet, which will gather pace in 2013 and polarise diners. As small plates take over menus, the main course is in danger of becoming an endangered species. Happy munching in 2013 folks!